Andy Murray admitted he wished he had played more lower-level tournaments after making it back-to-back finals at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham.
The former world number one won his second title of the season on the second-tier Challenger Tour in Surbiton last week and is aiming to repeat the feat at the Nottingham Tennis Centre.
He is yet to drop a set this week and eased past Portugal’s Nuno Borges 6-3 6-2 in only 72 minutes for his ninth victory in a row.
It is now four years since Murray returned to action following his hip resurfacing operation and he is pushing to be seeded at a grand slam for the first time since then at Wimbledon in two weeks’ time.
“I probably wish I’d dropped down and played more at this level sooner,” said Murray. “I did play a few Challengers when I came back but maybe I should have stayed there a little bit longer.
“I’ve won against three or four top-100 players in this run. There’s been some good wins against experienced grass-court players.
“For me physically and mentally to get used to being in this situation more again has been really helpful. Now it’s up to me to try and carry that on at the higher level over the next few weeks.”
Murray will return to the top 40 on Monday but will need more wins at Queen’s Club next week to earn a Wimbledon seeding and the concern could be the number of matches he has played in a short amount of time.
The 36-year-old played down those worries, though, saying: “Yes, you could say number of matches is what’s important but it’s also the nature of those matches.
“Today’s match was an hour and a quarter and was not a particularly physical match.
“If I was training at Queen’s, I would have been on the practice court for a couple of hours today and I would have been in the gym.
“There’s obviously the mental stress of the matches and competing but quite a few of the matches have been pretty quick. Physically I feel fine just now.”
Murray had rated his quarter-final win over Dominic Stricker as his best performance of the run and he was clinical in the opening set against Borges, ranked 73.
The second was a little scrappier, with Murray dropping serve and facing break points in other games, but more of the pressure was on his opponent and the Scot managed to avoid making things complicated.
The victory completed another memorable day for the home players after Katie Boulter and Jodie Burrage set up a very rare all-British final in the WTA event.
In the final, the Scot will take on 20-year-old Frenchman Arthur Cazaux, who defeated Dominik Koepfer 7-5 6-2.
“I’ve played a lot of youngsters recently and it’s always tough,” said Murray. “We practised with each other recently so hopefully (there are) not too many surprises.”
Osaka sees encouraging Italian Open run halted by Zheng in last 16
Naomi Osaka's promising Italian Open run was halted by Zheng Qinwen on Monday, as the seventh seed denied the four-time grand slam champion a quarter-final place.
Following Saturday's triumph over Daria Kasatkina – her second successive straight-sets win over a top-20 opponent in Rome – Osaka laughed off the "Clayomi" moniker given to her by some fans.
On Monday, her old troubles on the surface came back to the fore as Zheng dominated from the off to make the tournament's last eight for a second straight year, winning 6-2 6-4.
Osaka saw her serve broken in the very first game only to hit straight back, but Zheng assumed control by taking seven straight games to go from 2-1 down in the opener to 2-0 up in the second set.
The 21-year-old produced a clinical performance and converted all four of her break points, winning 78 per cent of first-serve points to Osaka's 68 per cent as she teed up a quarter-final clash with either Coco Gauff or Paula Badosa.
Data Debrief: 'Clayomi' no more as Zheng triumphs
Osaka impressed on a surface long regarded as her worst in Italy, but it was a bridge too far for her on Monday, Zheng reaching her fourth WTA 1000 quarter-final.
Since the format's introduction in 2009, she is just the second Asian player to reach multiple quarter-finals on both hardcourts and clay at that level before the age of 23, the other being Osaka.
Djokovic bemoans 'completely off' performance after early Italian Open exit
Novak Djokovic lamented his dismal showing as Alejandro Tabilo profited from the world number one's "completely off" performance to triumph at the Italian Open.
Tabilo stunned Djokovic with a straight-sets victory in the third round on Sunday, winning 6-2, 6-3 in his maiden ATP Tour clash with the Serbian.
The Chilean advances to the fourth round at a Masters 1000 event for just the second time after Indian Wells in 2023, with Djokovic unable to explain his struggles in Rome.
"I just wasn't able to find any kind of good feelings on the court, to be honest, striking the ball. I was completely off," he said.
A six-time champion in Rome, the 36-year-old won his opening-round match at the ATP Masters 1000 event against Corentin Moutet.
However, Djokovic was inadvertently hit on the head by a falling water bottle when leaving the court after that victory.
Whether that incident impacted his performance against Tabilo remains to be seen.
"I don't know, to be honest. I have to check that," he said. "Training was different. I was going for [a] kind of easy training yesterday.
"I didn't feel anything, but I also didn't feel the same. Today under high stress, it was quite bad – not in terms of pain, but in terms of this balance.
"Just no coordination. Completely different player from what it was two nights ago. Could be. I don't know. I have to do medical checkups and see what's going on."
Tabilo's next opponent will be Karen Khachanov, who saw off Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4, while Djokovic is made to wait for his 1100th match win.
Djokovic stunned in straight-sets defeat at Italian Open
Novak Djokovic is out of the Italian Open after a straight-sets defeat by Alejandro Tabilo in the third round on Sunday.
Tabilo recorded the biggest win of his career with a dominant performance, winning 6-2, 6-3 in his maiden ATP Tour clash with the Serbian.
Djokovic, who was hit on the head by a water bottle following his second-round win over Corentin Moutet, struggled to get going as he saw his serve broken four times.
Tabilo clinched the opening set in style, making few errors, and Djokovic failed to mount a comeback in the second, with double faults costing him at key moments, including one on the final break serve.
The Chilean advances to the fourth round at a Masters 1000 event for just the second time after Indian Wells in 2023. His next opponent will be Karen Khachanov, who saw off Francisco Cerundolo 6-2, 6-4.
Data Debrief: Big winner
Tabilo is the second player from Chile to defeat the World No.1 in ATP-1000 events after Fernando Gonzalez, who defeated Lleyton Hewitt at the Hamburg Masters in 2003, since the introduction of the format in 1990.
He is also the first Chilean to defeat a World No. 1 since Fernando Gonzalez beat Roger Federer at the 2007 Nitto ATP Finals Round Robin.
Djokovic, meanwhile, is made to wait for his 1100th match win.
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